Commentary
Competitive socializing gives new life to urban sites in need of tenants
Expanding competitive socializing venues that mix food and beverage with immersive entertainment are finding homes in some urban shopping areas in need of tenants.
October 23, 2023 by Kevin Williams
The ability to drop competitive socializing concepts into available and even abandoned units has proven one of the endearing aspects of this new trend. Virtual reality being used as an entertainment draw is not new, but the perfusion of new operations, many in traditional urban properties, has been felt in the global market and in the proving ground of the U.K.
One of the purveyors of the mixed-use approach in an urban entertainment placement is Gravity Entertainment, with its Gravity Max concept. The second venue of this chain recently opened in Liverpool and, again, the facility has been installed inside an old 100,000-square-foot Debenhams department store, previously abandoned in the city.
The 2,500-person capacity venue offers 12 different activities, underpinned with a multi-level e-karting track and AR bowling, with nine holes of "urban street golf," AR darts and featuring Hologate VR, Immersive Gamebox, an e-sports arena and even new batting cages.
The venue is also supported by areas for live performances and bar and dining, employing lessons learned from the first venue that opened in London. This second site was reported to have cost some £10 million ($12.15 million) targeting over 700,000 visitors annually. One of the new aspects of the chain is the adoption of the Sacoa Cashless System, which powers the entertainment experience at the Gravity Max Liverpool site.
UK activity surges
The north of England also saw a new concept for this mixed entertainment approach with the opening a few years back in Manchester of Urban Playground. This is a concept originated by the Mellor Group, coming from a background in leisure and amusement, with its competitive socializing brand including "The Cube Live" based on a licensed television gameshow experience; the "Putters," a tech-infused mini-golf space, and its own food franchise called "The Butcher."
In Manchester, we also see the renovation and relaunch of the Printworks Manchester being turned into an entertainment destination with a Vue Cinema, with a retail, food and an entertainment hub, including the area's "Boom Battle Bar" and other hospitality. The space will also include Europe's largest digital ceiling.
The Centre VR Enfield in North London offers yet another example of a VR arcade concept being deployed in a retail space — comprising some 16 VR stations and offering over 100 VR experiences and games in the Palace Exchange Shopping Centre. Along with VR stations, the space also offers a VR free-roam arena and party room.
In Kent, VR World is currently being fitted out downstairs at Lockmeadow Maidstone in the old Burger King unit within the Lockmeadow Entertainment Centre. Employing imported Chinese VR arcade machines with seven different offerings, this proves an example of a plug-and-play operation, depending on the Chinese hardware to draw an audience.
Empty department store comes alive
Then there's the Toca Social brand, operated by Toca Football — based on its soccer-based social entertainment venue plans, with the second venue opening in Birmingham's Bullring shopping center. This second venue is an important milestone coming on the back of the first venue opened in 2021 in London's O2. The third facility will be placed in an empty Debenhams store at Westfield London, a 35,000-square-foot space set to comprise 25 playing boxes and two bars.
Bounce opened its latest social table tennis venue in the newly opened iconic London Battersea Power Station — now a retail, leisure and hospitality venue.
Across the pond
Across the pond, the impact of new entertainment at the price of traditional or legacy installations was also felt with news regarding the 62-year-old bowling facility, Pickwick Bowl and Gardens. The venue in Burbank, California, was a historic location offering a traditional bowling experience across its 24 lanes, with a bar and family area. However, closing its doors in August, the venue will now be redeveloped into a residential complex, hosting around 100 units.
The adjacent ice-skating rink was sold to the local area and will continue to operate, the latest example of the traditional legacy bowling facility being upended — while the new generation of boutique bowling and entertainment sites grow in popularity.
Elsewhere in California, Round1 recently announced its largest venue in the state, also repurposing a previously closed department store — in this case an old 50,000-square-foot Nordstrom site in a San Francisco mall. In the final part of completion, the project was reported to have cost $4.5 million to develop in this latest interpretation for the bowling, amusement and eatertainment chain.
Dedicated F&B
The inclusion of a dedicated food and beverage element to the competitive socializing experiences has also become a growing trend across the entertainment offerings. A few months ago, developers of such brands had limited hospitality offerings, but now the latest openings include dedicated elements.
This was illustrated by the announcement of the latest Five Irons golf simulator lounge — the latest New York venue, scheduled to open in autumn, will now include a "Breezy Lounge," all developed in partnership with creator-led golf apparel and events brand Breeze Golf.
At this flagship venue, the new lounge concept will include a dedicated bar with cocktails, big screen entertainment as well as ping-pong and foosball entertainment, all in support of the 14-golf simulator equipped location. The lounge concept is hoped to be rolled out across the chain.
Competitive socializing has found a launching pad in urban retail properties in search of new tenants.
(Editor's note: Extracts from this blog are from recent coverage in The Stinger Report, published by Spider Entertainment and its director, Kevin Williams, the leading interactive out-of-home entertainment news service covering the immersive frontier and beyond.)
About Kevin Williams
Along with advisory positions with other entrants into the market he is founder and publisher of the Stinger Report, “a-must-read” e-zine for those working or investing in the amusement, attractions and entertainment industry. He is a prolific writer and provides regular news columns for main trade publications. He also travels the globe as a keynote speaker, moderator and panelist at numerous industry conferences and events. Author of “The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities,” the only book on this aspect of the market, with the second edition scheduled for a 2023 release.
